Africa: Startups Eye Metaverse, NFTs, to Solve Africa's Economic Woes

Johanneburg — Afropolitan, a pan-African digital nation selling NFTs as passports, says it wants to solve African governance issues

• Startups target unemployment and governance issues
• Founders launch virtual African nation, marketplace
• Critics fear replication of continent's inequalities

It might sound like science fiction, but a Nigerian-born tech entrepreneur thinks he has found a way for Africans to escape problems like inequality and bad governance - a virtual nation born online.
His is among a number of African-led virtual projects that aim to help the world's poorest continent capitalise on digital growth and tackle real-world problems, though some tech experts said such online spaces risk replicating offline inequalities.
"There's so many things that limit us as Africans from real-world opportunities," said Emole, co-founder of the Afropolitan network state project.
"(The internet) is the only place in the world which serves as an equaliser."
The development of the metaverse - a shared online environment where people can meet, buy virtual goods, and attend events - has sparked concern over digital rights, privacy and online inequality.
"What happens to a grandma in rural South Africa with no internet connection?" asked Thami Nkosi, an activist and researcher at South African non-profit Right2Know, which works to improve access to public information.

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